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LEICESTER Riders restricted Leeds Force to 30% shooting from the floor to prevail 87-59 at Carnegie Sports Centre on Friday and make it three wins from three to start the BBL Championship season.

This was only Riders’ third game in just over a month, and their first away from home this season, but at times they appeared to be in mid-season flow as they produced their patented pressure defence.

Force started well but could not find a consistent source of scoring as they were overwhelmed 29-15 in the second period.

Riders’ superiority was punctuated by back-to-back dunks from Jamell Anderson and Dzaflo Larkai to open a 63-39 lead and stifle Force’s fight-back after half-time.

Anderson led all scorers with 15 points off 6-of-7 shooting as Neil Watson and Drew Sullivan added 14 and 13 respectively and Shane Walker had six points on four boards on his debut.

Zak Wells was Force’s high man with 14 points and 10 rebounds, but he could not prevent a first defeat in three.

BBL CHAMPIONSHIP

LEICESTER RIDERS 82 MANCHESTER GIANTS 62

TRAYVON Wright put in a monstrous performance to maintain Leicester Riders’ unbeaten start to the season, as they moved to 4-0 in the BBL Championship with an 82-62 defeat of Manchester Giants.

Giants started well as former Rider Yorick Williams hit eight early points and the hosts struggled with turnovers and misses. But three-pointers from Connor Washington and Shane Walker helped Leicester find their range, and get back to 19-22 after ten minutes.

And they dominated the middle of the game. A 9-0 tear opened the second stanza, as they held their visitors scoreless for three and a half minutes, with Tyler Bernardini netting five points for a score of 30-25. And it was Wright who sent the lead into double-digits at 44-33 to cap a 12-3 run when he hit five points in a row of his own.

Riders won the second 31-12, and kept the pressure on in the third as Flo Larkai made four early free-throws, before Drew Sullivan pushed the lead through twenty at 61-38, rounding off another 11-4 run. The lead peaked at 75-51, and Riders have now won nine of the last ten meetings between these sides.